Trimmer guard



D. M. BEATY TRIMMER GUARD July 30, 1940.

Filed Feb. 6, 1939 INVENTOR DON M. BEATY BY @17 ATTORNEY Patented July 30, 1940 UNITED, STATES TRIMJVIER. GUARD Don M. Beaty, Vandalia, Ill., assignor to Johnson,

Stephens and Shinkle Shoe Company, St. Louis,

Application February 6, 1939, Serial No. 254,804

2 Claims.

The invention relates to shoe working machinery and more particularly to guards for cutters used in trimming the edges of the shoe sole and sh ank after the heel has been aflixed.

One object of the invention is to provide a simple guard device which will prevent the trimming cutter from injuring the heel finish.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a guard which in itself will avoid marring the heel finish and to this end it is desired to make the guard stationary rather than rotatable with the cutter.

Another object of the invention is to avoid danger to the operator by rotating guard elements injuring his fingers or catching his clothing.

Another object of the invention is to facilitate the application and removal of the cutter from its shaft without disassembling the guard from its mounting and without affecting the setting of the guard for its normal operation.

These and other detail objects of the invention are attained by the structure shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure l is a vertical section through a portion of a well known shank trimming machine and shows the trimming cutter and a guard therefor.

Figure 2 is an elevation and transverse section taken approximately on the line 2-2 of Figure l.

The frame I of the machine provides a bearing for the shaft 2 having a reduced end portion mounting the trimming cutter 3 retained in place by a washer 4 and stud 5. A bracket 6 is secured 8 is slidably but non-rotatively mounted on sleeve 1 and its outer end is adapted to surround the inner ends of the teeth of cutter 3.

A rod 9, mounted on bracket 6, parallels the shaft and guard and extends through a lug l0 projecting laterally from the guard. A spring II is compressed between bracket 6 and lug l0 and thrusts the guard to the left. A nut 12 threaded onto rod 9 limits the movement of guard 8 under the thrust of spring II but the guard may be moved to the right by the operator to facilitate removal of the cutter as by the application of a screw driver to the rear face of the cutter. Whenever the guard is displaced for this or any other reason it will automatically return to its original functioning position and will not require resetting. Nut l2 and spring ll provide for adjusting the position of guard 8 longitudinally of sleeve 1 and relative to the cutter as may be required for cutters of different thicknesses or for different types of work.

This guard will not chip or mar heel coverings or finish because it is non-rotative and because it prevents the trimming cutter from accidentally contacting the heel.

Also the guard 8 preferably has the portion thereof overlying the cutter tapered so that the shoe heel may be held in the same plane when starting to trim the shank at the'point where it meets the heel as when trimming along the shank at any other point. The operator does not need to tilt the shoe into special positions to trim the rear of the shank properly as has to be done with rotative guards. Better heel joints may be had easily when this guard is used because it is possible to trim the shank closer to the heel without damaging it. This guard is safer for the operator to use than a rotative guard. Usually rotative guards have teeth which enter between the teeth of the cutter. Many times an operator is injured by the rapidly moving guard itself. My guard protects the operator from coming in contact with the cutter.

This guard saves time for both the operator and the company. The operator is able to finish a larger number of shoes in a given time than he is when it is necessary for him to be careful for fear of injury to himself or shoes.

My guard will represent a saving of money to the companies using it as they will not have the expense of replacing damaged heels. The majority of heels at present have a covering of Celluloid and cannot successfully be repaired.

This guard is easily adjusted for use with cutters of various widths by the simple method of turning nut l2. Prior art guards for similar cutters are usually held in position by a screw having a head at the side of the guard and a screw driver is used to loosen and tighten the screw to adjust the position of the guard for different cutters. This repeated operation tends to roughen the screw head which is so positioned that it may readily damage the heel. Frequently the guard rotates with the cutter, which increases the likelihood of damage to the heel. To remove a cutter provided with a guard mounted by a lateral screw requires that the screw be loosened and the guard slipped away from the cutter so that a screw driver or other suitable tool may be placed behind the cutter to jar it loose from its position on the shaft. After the cutter is resive use of such modifications as come within the scope of the claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device of the class described, abracket adapted to be mounted -ona machine frame adjacent to a trimming cutter shaft; a support carried by said bracket to extend longitudinally of the shaft, and a guard slida-ble along said sup.- port with a portion arranged to surroundthe cutter, an element on said bracket extending in the direction of said support, a projection on said guard slidably engaging said element to hold said guard against rotation, yielding means thrusting said projection and guard in one direction along said support, and an adjustable device limiting the spring induced movement of said guard.

2. In a shank trimmer, a rotating shaft, a cutter mounted on the end thereof, a bracket adjacent to said shaft and spaced from said cutter, a support sleeve fixed on said bracket and surrounding said shaft, a tubular guard slidable on said sleeve with its outer end surrounding a portion of the edge of the cutter teeth, a lug projecting laterally from said guard, a rod car-- ried by said bracket and extending alongside said support sleeve and through said lug, a spring compressed between said bracket and said lug and thrusting'the latter and said guard towards said cutter, and a nut threaded on the end of said rod and limiting the movement of said guard towards said cutter.

DON M. BEATY. 

